1874 $10 Bickford Ten Dollar, Judd-1374, Pollock-1519, R.6, Gilt Copper PR62 PCGS. CAC....

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1874 Bickford Ten Dollar in Gilt Copper
Judd-1374, PR62

1874 $10 Bickford Ten Dollar, Judd-1374, Pollock-1519, R.6, Gilt Copper PR62 PCGS. CAC. Ex: Simpson. The obverse depicts a bust of Liberty facing left with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and the date below. Liberty wears a diadem inscribed with the word LIBERTY and ornamented with six stars. The weight 16.72 GRAMS, the standard of the metal 900 FINE, and the word UBIQUE are centered on the reverse. Around the periphery is the U.S. denomination DOLLARS 10 and the following international equivalents: STERLING (Pound) 2.1.1; MARKEN 41.99; KRONEN 37.31; GULDEN 20.73; and FRANCS 51.81. Struck in copper with a reeded edge and gilt.

This pattern was born out of a proposal by Dana Bickford, owner of the Bickford Knitting Machine Manufacturing Company of Brattleboro, Vermont, to create a coin whose value was fixed in relation to that of the world's currencies. According to Roger Burdette:

"During his business trips to England, France, Russia, Italy, and Germany, Bickford encountered the persistent inconvenience of many business travelers -- inability to easily and fairly exchange United States gold coins for those of other countries. Although treated as money in the United States, a $10 gold eagle was nothing but gold bullion in another country."

Its adoption for circulation would have placed the international monetary system on the gold standard, and clearly, the plan failed. However, Mint Director Linderman oversaw the production of these patterns in an attempt to placate Bickford. According to USPatterns.com, more than a dozen examples are known in copper with reeded edges, many of which, like this piece, have been gilted.

There are no individually distracting hairlines on either side of this deeply colored, green-gold example. The somewhat mattelike appearance does, however, justify the grade. CAC: 1 in 62, 0 finer (12/21).
Ex: Santa Clara Sale (Heritage, 1/2000), lot 7384.

Coin Index Numbers: (PCGS# 537348, Greysheet# 243883)

View all of [Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part VII ]

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